Grassley, Conlin again spar over Conlin’s personal finances

Read the two statements below, representing the latest skirmish in the race between U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, and Roxanne Conlin of Des Moines, the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2010 nominee for the U.S. Senate. 

Today’s installment is a dispute over the property taxes Conlin pays on her home.  Eric Woolson, Grassley’s communications director, wrote this: “When they cast their votes in the Senate race, Iowans who are paying more than their fair share might want to remember that Roxanne Conlin has once again avoided paying taxes.” 

Conlin issued a statement in reply; here’s a snippet: “I am, in fact, supporting tax increases that will apply to our family.  That is putting the public interest ahead of my personal interest.  Grassley’s campaign loves to distort the truth and, at times, outright lie. ” 

Read the statements from both campaigns below.

WITH PROPERTY TAX DEADLINE TODAY, CONLIN HYPOCRITICALLY CALLS FOR MORE TAXES BUT QUIETLY TAKES ABATEMENT ON NEARLY $2 MILLION MANSION

DES MOINES – Iowans across the state are feeling the burden of higher property taxes with today’s payment deadline, but U.S. Senate candidate Roxanne Conlin isn’t one of them after receiving tax abatement on her nearly $2 million mansion.
 
Conlin continues to campaign claiming she wants to “end tax breaks for the wealthy” but she and her husband applied for and city officials granted them an “urban revitalization tax abatement” on their 8,206-square-foot brick residence that also has a 1,431-square-foot deck and 192-square-foot porch in an upscale Des Moines neighborhood.  As a result, the Conlins’ semi-annual property tax bill is only $1,441 despite owning the third-most expensive home in Des Moines. The mansion and land are valued at $1.78 million. Under the five-year abatement, the Conlins pay property taxes on only the lot and not the $1.65 million structure – and, in fact, their semi-annual property tax bill went down $347, 19 percent, this year.
 
“If Roxanne Conlin wants to end tax breaks for the wealthy, the first thing she can do is stop applying for them and then she can start paying property taxes on her home like ordinary Iowans do,” said Eric Woolson, spokesman for Sen. Chuck Grassley’s re-election campaign. “If she feels so strongly that everyone ought to pay higher taxes, why is it that she and her husband proactively sought to escape paying the property taxes that fund local schools, repair local streets and pay the salaries of school teachers, firefighters and police officers? Once again, her hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
 
“A politician can’t get more hypocritical than to call for higher taxes and then go out of their way to escape paying them. Roxanne Conlin seems to think everybody else in the world should pay more taxes than her, including older Iowans on fixed incomes who are just getting slammed with big property tax increases this year. When they cast their votes in the Senate race, Iowans who are paying more than their fair share might want to remember that Roxanne Conlin has once again avoided paying taxes.”

Statement from Roxanne Conlin, candidate for the U.S. Senate, on the latest attack from the Grassley Campaign:

Thanks for coming to me for the facts. 

I have released plans to create jobs, eliminate our deficit, save social security, and improve education in Iowa.  However, with every new plan I announce Chuck Grassley attacks me.  He has not announced his solution to these problems.  All he does is launch these vicious attacks.

Last year, we paid $1.6 million in property taxes on the properties we own.  The abatement he refers to applies to every single newly built home in Des Moines.  It is in place to encourage people to build in the city limits as we did.

I am, in fact, supporting tax increases that will apply to our family.  That is putting the public interest ahead of my personal interest.  Grassley’s campaign loves to distort the truth and, at times, outright lie. 

I went to work at 14 to help my family put food on our table and supported my siblings by putting them through college.  Now that my children are grown, James and I built our dream house in Des Moines and since it is in the city it is subjected to a limited time tax abatement. 

I assure you, we have paid every single penny in taxes we have ever owed.  I’d love to hear more issues out of Grassley’s campaign rather than bogus attacks on me.  I would welcome the opportunity to debate him on the issues but he continues to refuse more than the one remaining appearance on radio.”